If you’ve been following along, I have been doing a little series on safety this week. It is Patient Safety Awareness Week, sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. While we are non-medical, we often have clients that we care for before, during, and/or after hospitalization for their chronic or terminal conditions. This issue is very important to us. Since as many as an estimated 400,000 patient deaths annually are caused by preventable harm (according to the IHI), we feel that this is important.

Two women in blue scrubs holding clipboards are walking down the hall and talking to each other. One of the women is wearing a white lab coat over her scrubs.

This page from the IHI provides good information on the importance of patient safety. I encourage those in the medical field to read it. As for non-medical people, the issue and week should be something you know about. If you see anything unsafe occurring during yours or a loved one’s care, be sure to report it to the facility as well as requisite state boards like the medical board.

This was a short one, but stay tuned for more later today.